Haim - Days Are Gone

Even when their ‘Forever’ EP was a wee glint flickering and barely registering on transatlantic radars, it wasn’t mere speculation to picture big things. Indeed, just one year later, Haim are occupying double-page review spreads, and hanging out with Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne and urm, Philip Green during London Fashion Week. Danielle, Este and Alana Haim spent the summer performing headline-worthy sets, the pinnacle being their over-brimming tent at Reading Festival. ‘Better Off’ can be heard playing everywhere from Radio 1 to the local shops. All this doesn’t really come as a surprise. Haim have always generated a giddy excitement, and amid a landscape that so frequently complains of repetition, derivation and even boredom, here is a band worth undivided attention and boundless hysteria.

Why, exactly? Because Haim look, feel, and sound like a proper band - with an inimitable, unmistakable something energising everything they touch. Haim are the sort of band that kids looking for rock idols wielding guitars and droves of attitude want to paste amongst tattered posters on bedroom walls. It’s the kind of music that prompts frenzied queuing round the block, and handmade gifts hurled onto stages. Equally, though, ‘Days Are Gone’ is the kind of album that could be piped unannounced at the nearest branch of Lakeland, and customers would still be dancing round the aisles waving non-stick silicone cupcake trays and going wild.

Haim meld a sassy, glossy R&B sheen with powerhouse folk melody on ‘Go Slow’, and they conjure glimmering pop foundations on ‘Forever’ that spiral upwards in strange geometric structures, built upon gasping, fragmented delivery and plunking bass. They do a lot of other things too, but in truth, the Haim sisters resist any attempts to be neatly folded up and placed in boxes. ‘Nu-folk’? What a load of old cobblers. And don’t dare consign them to the territory of ‘girl band’, either.

‘Days Are Gone’ confirms what everybody already knew in fabulous style; that Haim are the band to shout about. Este’s bass-face is already a staple of popular culture, and their frantic live sets are already the hot ticket. Off the back of this debut album, all this is only the beginning. Change your clocks accordingly, everyone, because it’s Haim time.